Uncoupling device.



W. L. DE REMER.

UNCOUPLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4.1913.

1,145,470. Patented July 6, 1915.

ornron WILLIAM L. DE REMER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR T0 SPENCER OTIS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA.

UNCOUPLING DEVICE.

Application filed June 4;, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM L. DE REMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Uncoupling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to uncoupling devices for use on railway cars and the like and aims to provide a new and improved means which may be operated from the side of the car for lifting the locking pin of a coupler of any of the ordinary types.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a car uncoupling device which will have incorporated in its construction no easily removable members and which will be connected directly to the locking pin of the coupler and fastened to the car, obviating thereby the use of chains, links, clevices, or the like, such as have been frequently employed in devices of this charac ter prior to my invention and which have been the cause of constant annoyance and expense to the railway companies because of their surreptitious removal when the cars provided therewith have been left standing in the railway yards and sidings. Removal of one of these parts renders the device inoperative and compels the brakeman to enter between the cars to couple and uncouple them at great danger to himself and in violation of the regulations of the railway commission.

A further object of my invention is to so construct and arrange the parts of the uncoupling device that the operating arm or handle will rest in itsnormal vertical position adjacent the car sill when the locking pin of the coupler is in lock set position, leaving the space between the car ends open and unobstructed so that should the brakeman find himself caught between the cars as they are being coupled together he may quickly step out of the way without danger of being knocked down as result of colliding with the operating arm of the device.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915.

Serial No. 771,635.

which taken in connection with the accompanying drawing discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

On the drawing: Figure l is a front elevation of an uncoupling device embodying my invention in operative position upon a car; Fig. 2 isa partial top plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The uncoupling device shown in the drawing and now about to be described comprises an operating rod 6, a lifting arm 7, an outer bracket 8 and an inner bracket 9.

The operating rod consists, in the present embodiment of the invention, of an operating arm 11, a main. body portion 12 of appropriate length to permit the arm 11 to be disposed adjacent the side of the car when the parts are in operative position and an end 18 bent back into substantially parallel relation with the main portion 12. The operating rod is secured to the car at its outer end by the bracket 8 through which. it is loosely disposed, and which extends outwardly from the car only a sufficient distance to permit the operating arm 11 to extend vertically downwardly when the parts are in normal position. The bracket 9, which connects the inner end of the operating rod 6 to the car, is located opposite the locking pin of the coupler when the latter is in normal position. This bracket consists of a base plate 10 fastened to the car sill 14 and two outwardly extending arms 15, each of which is provided with an elongated substantially horizontally disposed slot 16 through which the main portion 12 of the operating rod extends. The bent back end 13 of the operating rod is preferably normally disposed outwardly of and beneath the arms 15, as will be seen in viewing Fig. 3.

The lifting arm 7 preferably consists of a single rod bent back upon itself at 17 to form an elongated loop 18 through which, when the parts are assembled as will be later described, the main portion 12 of the operatingarm is disposed. The lifting arm 7 is bent intermediate its ends at 19 to provide a portion 22 sloping upwardly from the, looking pin 24 of the coupler 25 toward the car body and a portion 21 which is disposed substantially horizontally when the parts are assembled and the locking pin is in looking position. T he lower end of the portion 22 is bent into the form of a book 23 and is inserted through the eye of the locking pin 2%. The end of the lifting arm provided with the loop is referably located between the arms 15 of the bracket 9 and the arms 15 are preferably spaced apart a distance materially greater than the thickness of the lifting arm 7 to permit the lifting arm to move pivotally with the coupler when the cars provided therewith travel around a curve. The bent back end 13 is disposed beneath the horizontal portion 21 of the lifting arm so that upward movement of the end 13, produced by lifting the operating arm 11 from normal position, will cause upward pivotal movement of the lifting arm.

When the parts are assembled the loop 18 of the lifting arm is positioned between the arms 15 so that the interior of the loop, which is in effect a slot, is in alinement with the slots 16 of the bracket arms. The operating arm 11 of the operating rod is inserted through the three slots thus alined and moved until the bent-back end 13 is disposed beneath the lifting arm 7. This operation may be performed either before or after the bracket 9 has been fastened to the car and is preferably performed after the hook 23 has been inserted through the eye of the locking pin. The bracket 8 is then threaded over the end of the operating arm 11 and is secured in place upon the car sill by means of suitable fasteners, as is seen in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that none of the parts may be removed from the car Without unfastening the bracket 8, so that if this bracket is riveted into place, as shown at 26, the removal or disarrangement of the parts of the uncoupling device becomes so difficult as to prevent any one stealing the parts.

It will be apparent that when the parts are in operative position the uncoupling device offers no resistance to the free movement of the coupler transversely and lengthwise of the car, the transverse movement of the coupler being accompanied by an oscillation of the lifting arm about its pivotal connection with the operating rod 6 and the movement of the coupler lengthwise of the car being accompanied by a telescopic movement of the arms 9 of the bracket and the loop 18 of the lifting arm, the operating rod thus sliding lengthwise of the slots 16 and the lifting arm sliding on the rod.

It is thought that the invention and many of its advantages may be understood from the foregoing without further description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts, as for instance, the bracket 9 may comprise a single arm 15 located inwardly of the lifting arm instead of the two arms shown and described Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

1 claim:

1. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a lifting arm pivotally connected to the car and to the locking pin of the coupler, and an operating rod having a por tion thereof vertically movable and disposed in parallelism with the body portion of said rod and extending beneath said lifting arm in position to raise said lifting arm about its pivotal axis to lift the locking pin of the coupler, said lifting arm and operating rod being connected to the car to move longitudinally thereof with the coupler head.

2. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a lifting arm pivotally connected to the car, and an operating rod having a portion movable vertically and disposed beneath said lifting arm in position to raise the same to lift the locking pin of the coupler, said lifting arm and said operating rod being mounted to move longitudinally of the car and independently of each other.

3. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising an operating rod adapted to be pivotally connected to the car and having a vertically movable portion spaced from its pivotal axis in substantial parallelism therewith, and a lifting arm pivotally connected to said rod to move about the axis of said rod and disposed above the portion of said rod spaced from its pivotal axis, whereby the said portion is adapted to raise said lifting arm to lift the locking pin of the coupler.

4:. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a bracket provided with a horizontally disposed slot, a lifting arm provided with a similar slot and adapted to be connected to the locking pin of the coupler, and an operating rod disposed through the said slots and beneath the said lifting arm. 3 5. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the car and provided with a longitudinally disposed slot, a lifting arm provided with a similar slot and with a portion adapted to be disposed horizontally when the parts are in operative position, and an operating rod disposed through said slots and having a portion adapted to be disposed beneath the horizontal portion of the lifting arm.

6. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the car and having a pair of outwardly extending parallel arms, each provided with a horizontally disposed slot, a lifting arm adapted to be positioned between the arms of said bracket and provided with a horizontally disposed slot, and an operating rod adapted to be disposed through the slots in the bracket arms and the slot in the lifting arm and having a portion adapted to be disposed beneath said lifting arm.

7 An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the car, a lifting arm adapted to be connected to the locking pin of the coupler, and an operating rod pivotally connecting said lifting arm to said bracket and having an end bent back in parallel relation to the main portion of said rod and disposed beneath said lifting arm.

8. An uncoupling device for railway cars comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the car, a lifting arm, and an operating rod pivotally connecting said lifting arm to said bracket and adapted to raise said arm to lift the locking pin of the coupler, the portion of said lifting arm adjacent said bracket being substantially horizontal and the portion of said lifting arm adjacent the locking pin of the coupler being inclined from the locking pin to the horizontal portion.

WILLIAM L. DE REMER. Witnesses:

GEORGE A. WooDMAN, GEO. M. BEARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

